Board game apparatus

ABSTRACT

A game including a game board having a plurality of recesses preferably defined by upstanding pegs and a plurality of spherical playing pieces which are of a diameter such that they can be placed in adjacent recesses in diagonal rows but not in adjacent recesses in orthogonal rows. The purpose of the game is to form all of the playing pieces into squares with the playing pieces in the diagonal corners of the square, these squares being designated as crown squares. An alternative way of winning is to capture all but a designated number of the opponent&#39;&#39;s spherical playing pieces by enclosing them in capture squares. Capture squares are squares in which the playing pieces are arranged in alternate squares along orthogonal rows so that a captured piece will fit between the four playing pieces of the square.

nited States Patent 191 Cross, Jr.

[in (3,784,205 Jan. 8, 1974 BOARD GAME APPARATUS,

[75] Inventor: Norton M. Cross, Jr., White Bear Lake, Minn.

[73] Assignee: Reynolds W. Guyer, Jr., St; Paul, 1

Minn.

[22] Filed: Sept. 5, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 286,057

Related Application Data [63] Continuation of Ser. No. 119,673, March 1,1971.

[52] US. CL 273/131 AC, 273/130 F, 273/131 B,

Austria .Q 273/136 F Primary Examiner Delbert B. Lowe Attorney-FrederickF. Lange et al.

[5 7] ABSTRACT A game including a game board having a plurality ofrecesses preferably defined by upstanding pegs and a plurality ofspherical playing pieces which are of a diameter such that they can beplaced in adjacent recesses. in diagonal rows but not in adjacentrecesses in orthogonal rows. The purpose of the game is to form all ofthe playing pieces into squares with the playing pieces in the diagonalcomers of the square, these squares being designated as crown squares.An alternative way of winning is' to capture all but a designatednumberof the vopponents spherical playing pieces by enclosing them incapture squares. Capture squares are squares in which the playing piecesare arranged in alternate squares along orthogonal rows so that acaptured piece will fit between the four playing pieces of the square.

I 9 Clainis, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTED 81974 3784205 Norton M. Cross,Jr. 23 8 -23 BY ATTORNEY BOARD GAME APPARATUS This is a continuation ofapplication Ser. No.

119,673, filed Mar. l, 1971.

BACKGROUND OF .THE INVENTION There are numerous games employing playingboards and movable playing pieces. The present invention is directedtoan improved version of a game in which there is a playing'board andmovable playing pieces SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION- The present inventionis particularly concerned with a game in which the playing areas are ofsuch size with thogonal rows. It is only possible to dispose the playingpieces adjacent each other along diagonal rows. The

object of the game is to form as many squares as possible, in which thesquares are formed by playing pieces disposed in adjacent playing areasin diagonal rows.

Such squares are designated as crown" squares. The crown square may bemarked by placing on the center thereofa further playing piece whichrests on the four playing pieces but does not fit between them. Where itis desired to capture a piece, the playing pieces are arranged in asquare constituted by pieces disposed in alternate playing spaces alongorthogonal rows. The opponents piece is captured when such a' square isformed around the playing piece to be captured.

The playing spaces may be defined by posts arranged to form a pluralityof squares, the distance between the adjacent posts being less than themaximum transverse dimension of the playing pieces and the distancebetween diagonal posts in any square being at least as great as themaximum transverse dimension of the playing pieces. The posts definerecesses therebetween into which the playing pieces extend when placedbetween the, posts. 1

Specifically, the playing pieces are spherical in shape.

contrasting in appearance to the main playing pieces.

Other objects and features of the invention will be apparent from aconsideration of the accompanying specification, claims and drawing. 7

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a plan view of my game boardshowing spherical playing pieces arranged in various combinations whichthey can be made to assume during the game;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of one form of playing board;

FIG. '3 is a vertical sectional view taken along the lin 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of another form of my game board showing the boardwith a cover thereon and with the playing pieces in the position theyassume when the game is in storage;

- FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line s 5 of FIG.4; and

v 2. FIG. 6 is a detailed view illustrating the manner in which therelative dimensions of the crown playing pieces and the mainplayingpieces may be determined.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT I Referring to FIG. 1, I haveshown my improved game with the pieces in the position which they assumewhile they are being played. The board provides for a large number ofplaying areas arranged in a series of rows with any playing area in oneof the rows adjacent to and coextensive with the playing areas in theadjacent rows so that there are a plurality of rows of playing areasparallel to one side edge and an equal number of rows of playing areasperpendicular to the previously named rows, all of the same size. Thesetwo groups of rows may be referred to as the orthogonal rows. Because ofthis arrangement, there are also formed two groups of diagonal rows, oneextending upwardly when moving from the left to the right and the otherextending downwardly when moving in the same direction. Referring morespecifically to the drawing, the game board itself is designated by thereference numeral 10. The playing areas are in the form of recessesdefined by a series of posts 11. In the example shown, there are tenposts in each of the orthogonal rows and there are ten such rows. Theseposts thus define nine playing spaces in each of the orthogonal rows sothat there are 81 playing areas each defined by four posts. It will benoted that since any group of four posts forms a square, the recessesare of symmetrical cross section about any line in the cross-sectionalplane extending through the center of the recess.

Also provided are at least two groups of playing pieces. These arespecifically shown in the drawing as spheres which may be in the form ofmarbles. The playing pieces in one group have been designated by thereference numeral 1 and those in'the other group by the referencenumeral 2. This is intended to designate the first and second players.In actual practice, the

playing pieces in one group would probably be colored in a differentmanner than those in another group. The numeral designations have beenemployed for purposes of facilitating in the drawing the differentiationbetween the two groups without the necessity of color coding. Theplaying pieces designated by the reference numerals l and 2 constitutethe main playing pieces. Preferably, with a board having the number ofplaying spaces indicated in the drawing, there are 12 main playingpieces in each group so that each player has 12 main playing pieces.There is also a third group of playing pieces designated by thereference character C. These are the so-called crown playing pieces andare used to indicate the crown squares when they have been successfullyarranged. Again, while the letter C has been used as a convenient methodof differentiating the crown pieces in the drawing, these would actuallybe in a color contrasting with the l and 2 playing pieces. .For example,the so-called crown marbles could be clear. In fact, it is even possibleto have the crown marbles of the same color as the main playing pieces.

Before proceeding with an explanation of the purpose of the game and themanner in which it is played, two or three alternative forms of gameboards will be described. In FIG. 2, I have shown a board having agutter 12 therearound. It will be noted that the gutter is generallyU-shaped in cross section. As best shown in FIG. 3, the gutter has fourseparate portions 13, 14, 15 and 16 forming a support for the board tohold it spaced above the supporting surface. The gutter member 12 isused to hold the playing pieces before they are placed on the board. Thegutter 12 is of sufficient extent as to provide ample storage'space forall of the playing pieces. While I have shown the gutter 12 as beingformed as an integral continuation of the board 10, the portions 13, 14,15 and 16 could be separate sections similar to the sections of apicture frame and secured in any suitable manner to the board 10.

In FIGS. 4 and 5, I have shown a slightly modified board. In this case,the various pins 11 are molded on a plastic base 20 to provide the board10. On each side wall of the base 20, there is molded a slightprotuberance 21. Cooperating with the board 10 is a cover member 22.This cover member is preferably formed of clear plastic material and hasan internal area and configuration substantially conforming with theexternal configuration of the base 10 so that the cover member 22 can beplaced over the base 20 in telescopic relation therewith. The covermember preferably has an internal flange 23 on each side thereof. Theseflanges 23 are so located that when the cover member is placed over thebase 20, the flanges 23 snap over the protuberances 21 projecting fromthe side walls of the base 20 to hold the cover 22 in position. Thecover member 22 has a central inwardly projecting wall 24 which dividesthe cover 22 into two compartments. As is evident from the plan view ofFIG. 4, all of the playing pieces can be disposed on the board betweenthe various pins 11 with all of the playing pieces of group 1 on oneside of the partition wall 24 and all of the playing pieces of group 2"on the other side. The C or crown pieces can be partly disposed on oneside and partly disposed on the other. When it is desired to play thegame, the assembled unit is tipped upside down from the position shownin FIG. 5 and the board 20 is removed therefrom by pulling the base 20away from the cover 22. The board can then be tipped back so that it isin the position shown in FIG. 5 and the inverted cover 22 will retainthe various playing pieces until they are needed.

Referring now to the relationship between the playing pieces and theplaying areas on the board l0 and to the manner in which the game isplayed, it will be noted that the distance between any two of the pins11 when measured along any orthogonal row is less than the diameter ofthe playing pieces 1 and 2. On the other hand, it will be noted that thediagonal spacing of any two diagonally disposed pins 11 is such that oneof the playing pieces 1 or 2 can be interposed therebetween. Thus,referring to the upper left-hand corner of FIG. 1, l have designatedcertain of the 1 playing pieces by the reference numerals 30, 31, 32 and33 and one of the 2 playing pieces by the reference numeral 35. Playingpieces 30, 31, 32, and 33 are arranged in what is termed a capturesquare which will be discussed in more detail later. It will be notedthat playing piece 35 is disposed between playing pieces 31 and 32 inone diagonal row and between pieces 30 and 33 in another diagonal row.It is also obvious that playing piece 35 could not have been disposedbetween playing pieces 30 and 31 which are disposed in one orthogonalrow or between playing pieces 30 and 32 in a further orthogonal rowperpendicular to the one orthogonal row.

Referring now to the right-hand side of FIG. 1, l have designatedvarious 1 playing pieces by the numerals 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44 and45. Playing pieces 38, 39, 40 and 41, as will be noted, are grouped toform a square. Here, the playing pieces 38, 39, 40 and 41 are disposeddiagonally with respect to each other. As will be explained later, sucha grouping of playing pieces forms a crown square and it is one of thepurposes of the game to form as many crown squares as possible. It willalso be noted that playing pieces 39, 42, 43 and 41 also form a crownsquare, playing pieces 39 and 41 1 being common to the first crownsquare. Playing pieces 41, 43, 44 and 45 form a third crown square,pieces 41 and 43 being common to the second crown square. Thus, with atotal of eight main playing pieces, it is possible to form three crownsquares.

There are three C playing pieces in the group just discussed, thesebeing specifically designated by the reference numerals 47, 48 and 49.Piece 47 is interposed on top of and between main playing pieces 38, 39,40 and 41. As will be fairly clear, these crown playing pieces do notdrop between the main playing pieces but, as shown in FIG. 3, theyextend only partly between the members 38, 39, 40 and 41. As indicatedpreviously, these crown pieces may desirably contrast in appearance withthe main playing pieces. For example, the main playing pieces may becolored marbles, the 1" and 2 playing pieces being of contrastingcolors, and the crown playing pieces may be clear. The purpose of thecrown pieces is to designate when a crown square has been completed sothat it is possible to quickly determine how many crown squares any oneplayer has obtained. As pointed out previously, in the arrangement shownin the right-hand side, the player possessing the 1" pieces has obtainedthree crown squares. Consequently, there are three crown pieces 47, 48and 49 used to designate these crown squares.

Referring to the lower left-hand corner of the board of FIG. 1, thenumerals 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56 and 57 are used to designate anumber of2 pieces. It will be noted that these pieces used by theopponent of the player possessing the 1 pieces are likewise grouped intothree crown squares. One of these is formed by main playing pieces 50,51, 52 and 53, another is formed by the main playing pieces 52, 53, 54and 55, and the third by pieces 54, 55, 56 and 57. Each of these crownsquares has on top of it a crown piece, these crown pieces beingdesignated by the reference numerals 58, 59 and 60. Both of the twoplayers have an equal number of crown squares. Both also use eight oftheir 12 playing pieces in forming these crown squares. As previouslyreferred to, there are also shown on the board four additional 1"playing pieces 30, 31, 32 and 33. These playing pieces are placed inalternate playing spaces in orthogonal rows at the four corners of asquare. As a result, it is possible for playing piece 35 to be betweenthe four pieces 30, 31, 32 and 33. The pieces 30-33 are arranged in whatis termed a captive square. The piece 35 disposed between them, it willbe noted, is a 2 piece. This piece 35 disposed between the pieces 3033is thus captured by the player possessing the 1" pieces and is thenremoved from the board. In addition to the 2 pieces previously named,there are also three further 2 pieces designated by the referencenumerals 62, 63, and 64. Thus, including captured piece 35, there aretwelve 2 pieces shown on the board.

Aspreviously noted, the purpose of the game is to I square out byforming all of the main playing pieces into crown squares. The game canalso be won by capturing all 'but a designated number, forexample,'five, of the opponents marbles by enclosing them in captivesquares. The game is initially started by placing the marbles on theboard oneat a time, each player taking a turn. Once the marbles are onthe board, they can be moved in any direction and any distance. Eachplayer is attempting to move his pieces so that he can either form asmany crown squares as possible or capture as many, of his opponentspieces as possible. The game requires considerable skill and strategy isvery important in determining the outcome. For example, if one is ableto capture all but six of the opponents pieces and is not able tocapture any more, the opponent has only six left to arrange in crownsquares. Thus, the capturing of an opponents piece may actually give himan advantage. Similarly, if any one player finds himself in a situationwhereby getting rid of one playing piece, he

could arrange all of the rest ofth'e pieces into crown squares and ifthe opponents pieces are grouped so as to present a capture square, theplayer may drop his existing piece into his opponents capture square andhave it removed from the game. It will be obvious that much ofthestrategy centers around blocking an opponent from forming crown squareswithout being captured. In any event, as pointed out above, the-game isfinally terminated by one player either capturing all but five of theopponents pieces or by getting all of his pieces, not captured by theopponent, arranged in crown squares. In order for a player to win bygrouping his pieces into crown squares, he must complete at least twocrown squares. This requires a minimum of six playing pieces, It is forthis reason that when a player has lost all but five of his playingpieces, he automatically loses the game.

In the drawing, the crown pieces are shown as marbles of the same sizeas the main playing pieces. They are preferably, as pointed out above,of a different color to contrast in appearance. The crown pieces may,however, be larger or smaller-than the main playing pieces. It ispreferable that these crown pieces beofa size such that they will notdrop. down between the playing-pieces. Where the playing pieces are all'spheri-' cal, this] condition results when-the crown pieces have adiameter'substantially more than V271 )d, where d is the diameter of themain playing pieces. The diagram of FIG. 6 shows why this condition istrue. For illustrative purposes, it is assumed that the four playingpieces depicted therein are playing pieces 38, 39, 40 and 41 shown inFIG. 1. The letter b is used to designate the distance between thepieces 39 and 40 when measured along a line extending between thecenters of the two pieces 39 and 40. It will be obvious that thisdistance is the same as the distance between pieces 38 and 41 measuredalong a line between the centers of those pieces. In order for a crownpiece not to drop down between tlie playing pieces 38, 39, 40 and 41, itmust be of a diameter in excess of the distance b. The value of distanceb with respect to the diameter varies somewhat depending upon thediameter of the posts 11. The figure given above, 2 l)d, is the value ofb when the posts are infinitesimally small in diameter. Under theseconditions, the distance between the points of eng'agement of playingpiece 39 with posts 72 and 73 would be equal to the distance between thecenters of posts 72 and 73, and hence also between the centers of posts73 and 74. This distance is equal to d cos. 45 where d is the diameterof the playing pieces 38, 39, 40 and 41. The distance a represents thedistance between a vertical line drawn between the points of contact ofplaying piece 39 with pins 71 and 73 and the edge of the sphere alongthe line extending between the centers of spheres 39 and 40. Thisdistance a is the difference between the radius of the sphere and A dcos 45 (r cos 45, where r is the radius of the sphere). The distance b,assuming the pins 72 73 and 71 to be infinitesimal in diameter, isdetermined by subtracting from the dist-ance between any two pins (d cos45) twice the value of a. In other words, this distance becomesz d cos45 2(r r cos 45).

The cosine of 45 is l/ V 2. Thus, one gets the following equation:

As stated above, the value ofb determined in this way is actually thevalue when the pins 11 have an infinitesimal diameter. As the diameterincreases, the distance b between the points of contact of the spherewith adjacent pins becomes increasingly less than the distance betweenthe centers of the pins. Hence, the figure derived above for b becomesincreasingly less than the actual minimum value necessary. It will beapparent from FIG. 6 that the distance b with pins of the size shown inFIG. 6 begins to approach the distance between the points of contactwith pins 72 and 73 of a sphere placed between pins -74. Under theseconditions, the distance 12 would be d cos 45, or .707d.

In any event, it is obvious that the crown sphere can be substantiallyless than the diameters of the main playing pieces but should never beas small as V2-1)d,'where d is the diameter of the main playing pieces,if the crown piece is to rest on the playing pieces of the crown square.Of course, if the game is played so that the crown piece, instead ofresting on top of the playing pieces, is placed between them there is nosuch lower limit to the diameter of the crown pieces. Itwill'furthermorebe obvious that the diameter of the crown piece may bein excess of twice the diameter of the playing pieces.

It will be seen that the game tests the ingenuity of the players. Thereare several features that contribute to its fascination. In the firstplace, the use of two different types of squares, one the crown squarewhich is the goal of the game and the other, the capture square which isused to capture the opponents pieces. Another feature is the fact thatany piece can move through any distance and in any direction. This canresult in the game changing rather rapidly. Another factor that is ofhelp is the fact that a player need not play all of his pieces so longas he gets them into crown" squares. Thus, it may be to his advantage toactually surrender certain pieces. For the same reason, while capturingenough of the opponents pieces will win the game, capturing a lessernumber may actually help the opponent because he does not have as manypieces to place in crown squares.

As noted above, the pieces used to indicate crown squares may take anyof various forms. These crown pieces may be spheres of the same colorand size as the playing pieces; they may be of the same size but ofcontrasting color with respect to the main playing pieces; and they maybe nothing more than markers which go on top of the main playing piecesand remain in position. For example, these pieces could be sculptured sothat their lower portions conform exactly with the space between thefour playing pieces of a crown square. While I have shown the playingareas as defined by pegs and while I have found this method to havedefinite advantages, it is still possible to provide the recesses byactual depressions in the playing board. If flat playing pieces were tobe used, the playing area could be simply defined by lines drawn alongthe ,board as in checkers. The difference in such case between the boardof the present invention and the board in checkers would be that incheckers, the playing pieces do not extend outside the playing areas.Thus, in checkers, two playing pieces can be disposed in adjacentplaying areas without obstructing each other. In general, while I haveshown a specific embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood thatthis is for purposes of illustration only and my invention is limitedsolely by the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a game including a game board and a plurality of playing pieceswhich are movable thereon to various positions,

a plurality ol'playing pieces of uniform size including at least twogroups of playing pieces of contrasting appearance,

a game board having a plurality of playing recesses of uniform size eachdefined by at least three playing piece contacting surfaces equallyspaced from the center point of the recess, said recesses being arrangeduniformly in first rows with any playing recess in any one ofsaid firstrows adjacent to and coextensive with playing recesses in adjacent rowsso that said playing recesses are also disposed in a second set of rowsperpendicular to said first rows and in third and fourth diagonal rowsdisposed diagonally with respect to said first and second rows, thespacing between the centers of'said playing recesses being greater alongsaid diagonal rows than along said first or second rows, and

when so centered can be placed in adjacent playing recesses withoutobstructing each other only along said diagonal rows so that saidplaying pieces can be grouped into diagonal squares with each playingpiece in a diagonal corner of a square.

2. The game of claim 1 in which the playing recesses are symmetrical incross section about any line drawn through the center of the recess inthe plane in which the cross section is taken.

3. The game of claim 1 in which each playing recess is defined by fourposts arranged at the four corners of a square, the distance betweenadjacent posts being less than the maximum transverse dimension of theplaying pieces and the distance between diagonally opposite posts in anysquare being at least as great as the maximum transverse dimension ofthe playing pieces.

4. The game of claim 1 in which said two groups of playing pieces aremain playing pieces and in which there is a third group of playingpieces contrasting in appearance with the main playing pieces and actingas crown pieces, said crown pieces being of such a size and shape thatthey can be placed between and retained by any four of said main playingpieces when the latter are grouped into a diagonal square.

5. The game of claim 4 in which each playing recess is defined by fourposts arranged at the four corners of a square and in which the mainplaying pieces are of circular cross section with a diameter greaterthan the distance between adjacent posts but not greater than thedistance between diagonally opposite posts in any one square.

6. The game of claim 4 in which said main playing pieces are of circularcross section with a diameter greater than the spacing between thecenters of said recesses along said first or second rows but less thanthe spacing between said centers along diagonal rows and in which saidcrown pieces, when retained between four of said main playing pieceswhen the latter are disposed in four diagonally adjacent recesses,acting to crown the square formed by said four main playing pieces.

7. The game of claim 6 in which the main playing pieces and the crownpieces are both spheres.

8. The game of claim 7 in which the diameter of the main playing piecesis substantially equal to the distance between diagonally oppositeposts, and in which the crown pieces have a diameter not less than 2 l)d, where d is the diameter ofthe main playing said playing recesses andsaid playing pieces being of pieces.

9. The game of claim 7 in which the crown pieces are of the samediameter as that of the main playing pieces.

1. In a game including a game board and a plurality of playing pIeceswhich are movable thereon to various positions, a plurality of playingpieces of uniform size including at least two groups of playing piecesof contrasting appearance, a game board having a plurality of playingrecesses of uniform size each defined by at least three playing piececontacting surfaces equally spaced from the center point of the recess,said recesses being arranged uniformly in first rows with any playingrecess in any one of said first rows adjacent to and coextensive withplaying recesses in adjacent rows so that said playing recesses are alsodisposed in a second set of rows perpendicular to said first rows and inthird and fourth diagonal rows disposed diagonally with respect to saidfirst and second rows, the spacing between the centers of said playingrecesses being greater along said diagonal rows than along said first orsecond rows, and said playing recesses and said playing pieces being ofsuch relative size and shape that playing pieces when placed in therecesses are centered therein by engagement with said contactingsurfaces and when so centered can be placed in adjacent playing recesseswithout obstructing each other only along said diagonal rows so thatsaid playing pieces can be grouped into diagonal squares with eachplaying piece in a diagonal corner of a square.
 2. The game of claim 1in which the playing recesses are symmetrical in cross section about anyline drawn through the center of the recess in the plane in which thecross section is taken.
 3. The game of claim 1 in which each playingrecess is defined by four posts arranged at the four corners of asquare, the distance between adjacent posts being less than the maximumtransverse dimension of the playing pieces and the distance betweendiagonally opposite posts in any square being at least as great as themaximum transverse dimension of the playing pieces.
 4. The game of claim1 in which said two groups of playing pieces are main playing pieces andin which there is a third group of playing pieces contrasting inappearance with the main playing pieces and acting as crown pieces, saidcrown pieces being of such a size and shape that they can be placedbetween and retained by any four of said main playing pieces when thelatter are grouped into a diagonal square.
 5. The game of claim 4 inwhich each playing recess is defined by four posts arranged at the fourcorners of a square and in which the main playing pieces are of circularcross section with a diameter greater than the distance between adjacentposts but not greater than the distance between diagonally oppositeposts in any one square.
 6. The game of claim 4 in which said mainplaying pieces are of circular cross section with a diameter greaterthan the spacing between the centers of said recesses along said firstor second rows but less than the spacing between said centers alongdiagonal rows and in which said crown pieces, when retained between fourof said main playing pieces when the latter are disposed in fourdiagonally adjacent recesses, acting to crown the square formed by saidfour main playing pieces.
 7. The game of claim 6 in which the mainplaying pieces and the crown pieces are both spheres.
 8. The game ofclaim 7 in which the diameter of the main playing pieces issubstantially equal to the distance between diagonally opposite posts,and in which the crown pieces have a diameter not less than ( SquareRoot 2-1)d, where d is the diameter of the main playing pieces.
 9. Thegame of claim 7 in which the crown pieces are of the same diameter asthat of the main playing pieces.